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Van Dijk reveals positives from Liverpool’s poor campaign
25th May, 2026 01:14 PM
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has termed the Reds’ qualification to Europe, where the club will play in the UEFA Champions League next season, as the sole positive of their campaign.
In an interview with Sky Sports after the Reds beat Brentford to secure Champions League football, the Dutchman admitted the season was one of the most challenging
Poor season
“That (qualifying for the Champions League) is the only positive. The bare minimum that we should try to get out of this poor season. Now we will say goodbye to the legends of the club, and the focus is on that right now. Onwards and upwards, so we keep going.
“It’s been the most challenging year of my career. It’s tough to take and tough to go through that as a team. “But we are Liverpool. We always come out of it stronger,” he stated.
His gaffer and club head coach, Arne Slot, also emphasised the same goal, stating that the team could not afford to belittle the objective.
The former Feyenoord coach came into the season as the league’s reigning champions but failed in their bid to defend the title, finishing a distant fifth behind champions Arsenal, Man City, and old rivals Manchester United.
Their dismal run seemed to have hit a fresh low with a crushing defeat to Aston Villa late, leaving the club on the brink of missing out on the automatic slots for the elite European competition.
“Big clubs have not been able to qualify for Europe in the last few seasons in this league. So we can never take [Champions League qualification] for granted, but it’s clear and obvious that we wanted more.
“So, yeah, not what I would have loved us to achieve this season before we started. But taking everything into account, what has happened to us this season? I am happy today that we’ve qualified for the Champions League,” he said.
Slot’s season reflections
Reflecting on the lesson picked from the campaign, Slot admitted that he would be willing to take a different approach heading into the new season
“Oh, yeah, many things. I have not been perfect, but I would have answered this question exactly the same in the year we won the league.
“It would be stupid for me to sit here and say all the decisions I have made were the right ones. But before I made them, it always felt like they were the right ones to make.
“But a lot of times I did not even have to make decisions or choices, because this was maybe the first time this season that there were no academy players on the bench. And that has been an exception. So if you ask me one word to describe this season, I would describe it with the word: injury,” he added.
